


The Deep Breath Before the Plunge

by captainofthefallen



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Apathy, Exhaustion, F/M, Twin Elms, in a tired sort of way, pre Sun in Shadow, pre endgame, the watcher is done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 15:55:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11854857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainofthefallen/pseuds/captainofthefallen
Summary: The Watcher can't sleep the night before they're set to follow Thaos into Sun in Shadow. Title is taken from a scene in Return of the King.





	The Deep Breath Before the Plunge

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling really tired and apathetic at some point during school (I mean haven't we all) and I sort of wondered what if the Watcher was feeling like this? Just done with everything, apathy taking over, kind of thing? So this happened.

One last night. 

It's funny, she thinks. A moment later, she wonders why. There's nothing funny about any of this. 

Still, it's funny. Ironic? No. Maybe. She doesn't know. Maybe she doesn't care. She would have thought, being this close to Thaos, so close to reaching her goal, she'd be more... excited? No, wrong word. This isn't the kind of thing you get excited for. Doomsday showdown with the dangerous, thousands-of-years-old pawn of the gods, and all that. 

Invested, maybe. She would've thought she'd be more invested. 

She leans heavily on the balcony railing, looking out over Twin Elms. It's beautiful, she supposes. Maybe she'd find it more beautiful if she wasn't seeing flashes of torture and death everywhere she went. 

She sighs deeply, lets her head drop to her chest. Tries to summon an emotion. Something. Anything. Fear. Vengeance. Remorse. Sorrow. Anything. But it's all just... just empty. Like her soul has just... given up. 

Her body feels heavy. Every movement takes twice as much effort, but she can't remember what it felt like before. Was there a before? There must have been, but she... can't remember. All she feels is... this. 

She should sleep. She doesn't think she could, even if she was inclined to try. Her body may be at the end of its rope, her soul may be drained, but her mind is running more tirelessly than an excited puppy. What if, it says. What if, along with constant reminders of everything she now knows she's done. 

The door opens behind her. She doesn't turn. Her head is still lowered, forehead almost touching where her arms are resting on the railing. Still, in her peripheral vision she sees a person settle against the railing next to her. 

She doesn't have to look to know who it is. Who else would it be? 

He doesn't speak, and she doesn't move. But she feels something. A warmth, permeating her empty soul. If she wasn't too drained to investigate the feeling, she might have found that it was a warmth associated with being loved. 

"How can I help?" he asks finally. Quietly. 

Another warmth. She didn't have to struggle to identify this one--gratitude. He didn't ask if she was all right. He knows she'd have to lie if he did. 

She shakes her head minutely, all she can muster the energy for. "I'm just... tired." 

"And sleep isn't helping." 

She actually looks up at that, meets his eyes, filled to the brim with warm empathy. She feels the warmth again. Because he understands. 

She shakes her head. 

He nods a little, almost to himself, looking past her into the darkening sky. "C'mere," he says, his gaze shifting back to her, and it's like all the warmth in his eyes wraps around her, and then it's his arms, and he's holding her close. 

They're quiet. They don't need words. In the quiet, on the brink, they understand each other.


End file.
